Written by Providr Contributor
Nail-biting is a common habit for many people; but for one man, it became an addiction that nearly killed him. Luke Hanoman, a 28-year-old father of two children from Birkdale, Southport, England had a nail-biting addiction and was suddenly rushed to the hospital after he contracted an infection from a cut he sustained near his fingernail, according to a report done by The Sun.
According to the Daily Star, once Hanoman arrived at the hospital, he spent four days under 24-hour watch by doctors and was told by them that he was lucky to be alive. Before Hanoman was rushed to the hospital, he explains that he was feeling flu-like symptoms for about a week. But this was just caused by the infection that was spreading through his body. The cut developed when Hanoman was biting his nails, and he bit down on the side of one of them and it hurt him. He mentions: “I had cold sweats, I was shaking, and then going hot. And then my finger started swelling up and I had this unbearable throbbing.”
Hanoman’s mother ended up coming to see her son to make sure that he was alright when she heard that he left work on a Friday because the symptoms he was experiencing were too severe. His mother acted quickly and didn’t waste any time calling the NHS helpline 111. She explained to the operator her son’s symptoms, The Sun reported.
Shortly after his mother spoke to the operator, he recalls that they informed her that she had 24-hours to get her son to the emergency. The last thing Hanoman remembers from that day is his mother racing him to the hospital and before he knew it, he was on a stretcher. Doctors explained that Hanoman had red lines all over his body which, according to MedicineNet, is a characteristic sign of an infection of the skin or subcutaneous tissues.
The cut that Hanoman sustained on his finger from biting his nails triggered a killer infection called Sepsis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines Sepsis as the body’s response to an infection. Without timely treatment, they add that it can become life-threatening, like in Hanoman’s case.
Hanoman says that the doctors informed him that he was lucky to be alive because he was in danger of going into septic shock. He added that doctors didn’t tell him how bad the infection was because he believes they were trying to keep him calm and not to worry him too much, reported The Sun.
According to the UK Sepsis Trust, Sepsis affects 260,000 people in the UK each year and around 44,000 of those people die each year because of it. One of the main reasons why these lives are claimed is because of the delayed diagnosis, which in turn costs the UK £15.6 billion annually, they added. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that the symptoms of Sepsis include shortness of breath, confusion, high heart rate, fever, pain and discomfort, and clammy or sweaty skin. The key is to catch it in time before it becomes life-threatening, so if you experience a combination of these symptoms, go see your doctor.
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